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China have renewed military drills in the South China Sea
China is in the midst of an ambitious military modernisation programme overseen by President Xi Jinping with a heavy focus on its air force and navy, from building stealth fighters to adding aircraft carriers.
President Xi insists his nation has no hostile intent, but its sabre-rattling in the busy South China Sea waterway, and around Taiwan, has touched a nerve in the region and in Washington.
In a statement, the air force said H-6K bombers and Su-30 and Su-35 fighters, among other aircraft, carried out combat patrols over the South China Sea and exercises in the Western Pacific after passing over the Miyako Strait, which lies between two southern Japanese islands.
It did not say when the exercises took place nor specify the parts of the South China Sea or the Western Pacific.
In a “freedom of navigation” operation on Friday, a US Navy destroyer came within 12 nautical miles of an artificial island China has built in the South China Sea, provoking condemnation from China, which claims most of the strategic waterway.
Sending Su-35 fighters over the South China Sea aims to help increase the air force’s ability to fight far out at sea, the air force said in the statement on its microblog.
Armed police soldiers lift timbers during a drill on August 24, 2016 in Chongqing, China. As the highest temperatures reached over 40 degree Celsius at 5 districts in Chongqing, officers and soldiers of an armed police crop took outdoor training
Flying across the Miyako Strait, which also sits to the northeast of the self-ruled island of Taiwan that China claims as its own, accorded with international law and practice.
Beijing was furious after US President Donald Trump approved legislation last week that encourages the United States to send senior officials to Taiwan to meet Taiwanese counterparts.
The atmosphere in Beijing began to get heated after US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Alex Wong, visited Taipei on Tuesday.
Mr Wong said in Taipei on Wednesday that the United States’ commitment to Taiwan has never been stronger and that the island is an inspiration to the remaining regions of the Indo-Pacific.
China claims self-ruled Taiwan as its own and considers it a wayward province.
And Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Tuesday that Taiwan would face the “punishment of history” if it were to make any attempts to separate.
The Global Times said in an editorial that China had to “strike back against the law.
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China has spent huge amounts on the Air Force and Navy
It said: “China can pressure the US in other areas of bilateral cooperation: for example, the Korean Peninsula issue and Iran nuclear issue.
The paper, which is published by the ruling Communist Party’s official People’s Daily added: “The mainland must also prepare itself for a direct military clash in the Taiwan Straits.
“It needs to make clear that escalation of US-Taiwan official exchanges will bring serious consequences to Taiwan.
“This newspaper has suggested that the mainland can send military planes and warships across the Taiwan Straits middle line. This can be implemented gradually depending on the cross-Straits situation.”
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